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July 2016 Visa Bulletin

For June 2016 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-june-2016.aspx

For analysis of July 2016 Visa Bulletin, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/visa-bulletin/2016/visa-bulletin-analysis-july-2016.aspx

July 2016 Visa Bulletin has been officially released (valid from July 1 to July 31 only). Please see below for more details.

Family Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 22MAR09 22MAR09 22MAR09 08MAR95 01FEB05
F2A 15NOV14 15NOV14 15NOV14 01SEP14 15NOV14
F2B 08DEC09 08DEC09 08DEC09 08SEP95 01JUL05
F3 01DEC04 01DEC04 01DEC04 22OCT94 01MAR94
F4 08SEP03 01JAN03 01JAN01 15APR97 01JAN93
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Family-
Sponsored 
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
F1 01OCT09 01OCT09 01OCT09 01APR95 01SEP05
F2A 15OCT15 15OCT15 15OCT15 15OCT15 15OCT15
F2B 15DEC10 15DEC10 15DEC10 15MAY96 01JAN06
F3 01AUG05 01AUG05 01AUG05 01MAY95 01AUG95
F4 01MAY04 01MAY04 01MAY04 01JUN98 01APR93

Employment Based:
Final Action Dates
Dates For Filing Applications
"Final Action Date" is the date when when USCIS/DOS may render their final decision on submitted applications. Your priority date should be before this date.
Employment-
based
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
EL SALVADOR
GUATEMALA
HONDURAS
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES
1st C C C C C C
2nd C 01JAN10 C 01NOV04 C C
3rd 01MAR16 01JAN10 01MAR16 22OCT04 01MAR16 15FEB09
Other Workers 01MAR16 01JAN04 01MAR16 22OCT04 01MAR16 15FEB09
4th C C 01JAN10 C 01JAN10 C
Certain Religious Workers C C 01JAN10 C 01JAN10 C
5th Non-Regional Center
(C5 and T5)
C 15FEB14 C C C C
5th Regional Center
(I5 and R5)
C 15FEB14 C C C C
"Date for Filing Application" is the date when you can submit I-485/NVC applications to USCIS/DOS. Your priority date should be before this date.
Employment- 
based
All Chargeability 
Areas Except
Those Listed
CHINA-
mainland 
born
INDIA MEXICO PHILIPPINES 
1st C C C C C
2nd C 01JUN13 01JUL09 C C
3rd C 01MAY15 01JUL05 C 01JAN10
Other Workers C 01AUG09 01JUL05 C 01JAN10
4th C C C C C
Certain Religious Workers C C C C C
5th Non-Regional Center
(C5 and T5)
C 01MAY15 C C C
5th Regional Center
(I5 and R5)
C 01MAY15 C C C

Special Notice from USCIS:(Show/Hide)

D.  OVERSUBSCRIPTION OF THE MEXICO EMPLOYMENT-BASED FOURTH (E4) AND CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WORKERS (SR) PREFERENCE CATEGORIES

As readers were advised in the May Visa Bulletin number 92, there has been extremely high demand in the E4 and SR categories, primarily for Juvenile Court Dependent cases filed with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for adjustment of status. Pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act, this has now required the implementation of E4 and SR Application Final Action Dates for Mexico, which has reached its per-country limit.  This action will allow the Department to hold worldwide number use within the maximum allowed under the FY-2016 annual limits. 

E.  VISA AVAILABILITY FOR THOSE COUNTRIES WHICH ARE, OR WILL BE, SUBJECT TO A FINAL ACTION DATE IN THE EMPLOYMENT-BASED FOURTH (E4) AND CERTAIN RELIGIOUS WORKERS (SR) PREFERENCE CATEGORIES 

INA Section 202 sets an annual per-country limitation for preference immigrants of 7 percent of the worldwide level, to avoid monopolization of the annual limit by applicants from only a few countries. 

INA Section 202(a)(5)(A) provides that if total demand will be insufficient to use all available numbers in an Employment preference during a calendar quarter, then the otherwise unused numbers may be made available in that preference without regard to the per-country limits.  This provision helps to assure that all available Employment preference numbers may be used.  Through late winter, this provision allowed countries with demand in excess of their normal per-country limit to utilize numbers that would have otherwise gone unused.  Those countries were El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

By April, the level of worldwide Employment Fourth preference demand had increased to the point where there was sufficient demand to fully utilize the FY-2016 worldwide preference limit.  It therefore became necessary to impose a final action date on those countries which had already reached their per-country limit, followed by those which would reach their limit in the coming months. 

Readers should be aware that the establishment of the Employment Fourth preference  Final Action date of January 1, 2010 does not mean that applicants are now subject to a wait in excess of six years.  That Final Action Date is intended only to stop any further use of numbers by applicants from those countries under the FY-2016 annual limit, not to indicate how long it will be before applicants will be eligible for final action.  

What are the Employment Fourth Final Action Dates likely to be for October when the FY-2017 annual limits take effect?

Mexico: The Employment Fourth Preference category will become CURRENT for October.

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras:  A determination regarding the final action date(s) which may be required for these countries cannot be made at this time.   Demand versus availability of numbers for these countries will be continuously monitored throughout the coming months, and official determination will be made in early September.  Based on current indications which are very much subject to change, it is anticipated that the Final Action Date(s) for these three countries will be a date in 2015.

F.  VISA AVAILABILITY IN THE COMING MONTHS

FAMILY-sponsored categories (August and September)

Worldwide dates:  
F1:  Up to two months
F2A: One or two weeks
F2B: Four to six weeks
F3:  Up to two weeks
F4:  Up to one month

EMPLOYMENT-based categories (August and September)

Employment First:  Current for most.

China and India:   A date will be established no later than September. Will return to “Current” status for October.  

Employment Second: 
Worldwide:  Date likely to be imposed by September. Will return to “Current” status for October.      

China:         No forward movement. 

India:          One week beyond India EB-3.

Employment Third:
Worldwide:  Up to one month.  

China:         No forward movement.           

India:          Indications are that there will be “otherwise” unused numbers available under the Worldwide limit.  This should allow the September date to reach early 2005. 

Mexico:        Worldwide date for the foreseeable future. 

Philippines:   Likely to reach late 2009, possibly early 2010.     

Employment Fourth: Current for most.

El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico will be subject to the January 1, 2010 Final Action Date through September. That date will be applied to India in August.

El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are expected to have a 2015 Final Action Date(s) for October.

India and Mexico:  Will return to “Current” status for October.

Employment Fifth:  Current for all but China. 

China:           Best case scenario is March 1st by September. Slow forward movement for October and beyond.


The above projections for the Family and Employment categories indicate what is likely to happen on a monthly basis based on current applicant demand patterns.  Readers should never assume that recent trends in Final Action Date movements are guaranteed for the future, or that "corrective" action will not be required at some point during the year in an effort to maintain number use within the applicable annual limits.  The determination of the actual monthly Final Action Dates is subject to fluctuations in applicant demand and a number of other variables. 

G.  DIVERSITY VISA LOTTERY 2017 (DV-2017) RESULTS

The Kentucky Consular Center in Williamsburg, Kentucky has registered and notified the winners of the DV-2017 diversity lottery.  The diversity lottery was conducted under the terms of section 203(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and makes available *50,000 permanent resident visas annually to persons from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States.  Approximately 83,910 applicants have been registered and notified and may now make an application for an immigrant visa. Since it is likely that some of the first *50,000 persons registered will not pursue their cases to visa issuance, this larger figure should insure that all DV-2017 numbers will be used during fiscal year 2017 (October 1, 2016 until September 30, 2017).

Applicants registered for the DV-2017 program were selected at random from 12,437,190 qualified entries (19,344,586 with derivatives) received during the application period that ran from noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, October 1, 2015, until noon, Eastern Daylight Time on Tuesday, November 3, 2015.  The visas have been apportioned among six geographic regions with a maximum of seven percent available to persons born in any single country.  During the visa interview, principal applicants must provide proof of a high school education or its equivalent, or show two years of work experience in an occupation that requires at least two years of training or experience within the past five years.  Those selected will need to act on their immigrant visa applications quickly.  Applicants should follow the instructions in their notification letter and must fully complete the information requested.

Registrants living legally in the United States who wish to apply for adjustment of their status must contact the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services for information on the requirements and procedures.  Once the total *50,000 visa numbers have been used, the program for fiscal year 2017 will end.  Selected applicants who do not receive visas by September 30, 2017 will derive no further benefit from their DV-2017 registration.  Similarly, spouses and children accompanying or following to join DV-2017 principal applicants are only entitled to derivative diversity visa status until September 30, 2017.

Dates for the DV-2018 program registration period will be widely publicized in the coming months.  Those interested in entering the DV-2018 program should check the Department of State’s Visa web page in the coming months.

*The Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) passed by Congress in November 1997 stipulated that up to 5,000 of the 55,000 annually-allocated diversity visas be made available for use under the NACARA program.  The reduction of the limit of available visas to 50,000 began with DV-2000.

The following is the statistical breakdown by foreign-state chargeability of those registered for the DV-2017 program: 

AFRICA
ALGERIA  1,561 ETHIOPIA  4,500  NIGER  34
ANGOLA  80 GABON  26 RWANDA  277
BENIN  617 GAMBIA, THE 46 SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE  0
BOTSWANA  15 GHANA  3,170 SENEGAL  357
BURKINA FASO  217 GUINEA  1,233 SEYCHELLES  1
BURUNDI  106 GUINEA-BISSAU  3  SIERRA LEONE  2,065
CABO VERDE  7 KENYA  2,090 SOMALIA  215
CAMEROON  2,096 LESOTHO  1 SOUTH AFRICA  427
CENTRAL AFRICAN REP.  9 LIBERIA  3,105 SOUTH SUDAN  17
CHAD  52 LIBYA  274 SUDAN   2,522
COMOROS  5 MADAGASCAR  13 SWAZILAND  4
CONGO  94 MALAWI  17 TANZANIA  89
CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE  3,835 MALI  82 TOGO  963
COTE D’IVOIRE 891 MAURITANIA  27 TUNISIA  169
DJIBOUTI  53 MAURITIUS  9 UGANDA  240
EGYPT  4,501 MOROCCO  1,905 ZAMBIA  36 
EQUATORIAL GUINEA  3 MOZAMBIQUE  7 ZIMBABWE  106  
ERITREA  316 NAMIBIA  12   
ASIA
AFGHANISTAN  285 JAPAN  204 QATAR  33
BAHRAIN  12 JORDAN  259 SAUDI ARABIA  253
BHUTAN  16 NORTH KOREA  0 SINGAPORE  20
BRUNEI  0 KUWAIT  101 SRI LANKA  375
BURMA  213 LAOS  0 SYRIA  356
CAMBODIA  824 LEBANON  183 TAIWAN  260
HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMIN. REGION  37 MALAYSIA  39 THAILAND  41
INDONESIA  115 MALDIVES  0 TIMOR-LESTE  0
IRAN  4,500 MONGOLIA  144 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 97
IRAQ  302 NEPAL  4,000 YEMEN  694
ISRAEL  127 OMAN  9  
EUROPE
ALBANIA  2,373 HUNGARY  153 NORWAY  24
ANDORRA  0 ICELAND  13 POLAND  517
ARMENIA  1,669 IRELAND  63 PORTUGAL  36
AUSTRIA  71 ITALY  443 ROMANIA  480
AZERBAIJAN  470 KAZAKHSTAN  518 RUSSIA  2,290
BELARUS  899 KOSOVO  348 SAN MARINO  0
BELGIUM  95 KYRGYZSTAN  292 SERBIA  376
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 119 LATVIA  64 SLOVAKIA  49 
BULGARIA  666 LIECHTENSTEIN  3 SLOVENIA  16
CROATIA  36 LITHUANIA  183 SPAIN  204
CYPRUS  12 LUXEMBOURG  5 SWEDEN  94
CZECH REPUBLIC  53 MACEDONIA  286 SWITZERLAND  96
DENMARK  44 MALTA  3 TAJIKISTAN  414 
ESTONIA  34 MOLDOVA  1,762 TURKEY  2,186
FINLAND  51 MONACO  4 TURKMENISTAN  91
FRANCE  467 MONTENEGRO  25 UKRAINE  4,500
  French Polynesia  1 NETHERLANDS  82 UZBEKISTAN  4,501
  New Calendonia  1   Aruba 2 VATICAN CITY  0 
GEORGIA  680    Curacao  1  
GERMANY  532   Sint Maarten  4  
GREECE  86 NORTHERN IRELAND  13  
NORTH AMERICA
BAHAMAS, THE  10    
OCEANIA
AUSTRALIA  748 NAURU  5 SOLOMON ISLANDS  0
  Cocos Islands  3 NEW ZEALAND  213 TONGA  42
FIJI  404   Cook Islands 8 TUVALU  1
KIRIBATI  3 PALAU  0 VANUATU  5
MARSHALL ISLANDS  0 PAPUA NEW GUINEA  6  
MICRONESIA, FEDERATED STATES OF  2 SAMOA  10  
SOUTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA, AND THE CARIBBEAN 
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA  11 DOMINICA  8 SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS  0
ARGENTINA  53 GRENADA  7 SAINT LUCIA  9
BARBADOS  1 GUATEMALA  29 SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES  4
BELIZE  3 GUYANA  10 SURINAME  0
BOLIVIA  30 HONDURAS  44 TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO  34
CHILE  27 NICARAGUA  9 URUGUAY  12
COSTA RICA  18 PANAMA  12 VENEZUELA  1,134
CUBA  493 PARAGUAY  3  

Natives of the following countries were not eligible to participate in DV-2017:  Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China (mainland-born, excluding Hong Kong S.A.R., Macau S.A.R., and Taiwan), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, South Korea, United Kingdom (except Northern Ireland) and its dependent territories, and Vietnam.   


Also See:

More Options: If you are new to immigration process or would like to see what other immigration options are available, please click here: https://www.mygcvisa.com/immigration/

Email Newsletter: To receive email as soon as latest visa bulletin is released, please click here.

When Can I Get My Green Card: Get step-by-step details on when you can expect to get your green card (including latest timeframe for each step of GC process for both EB and FB categories).

USCIS/NVC Timeframe: Please click here to see how long it currently takes to process application.

Current Step: If your priority date is not current, then you can calculate when it may become current, check your case status, case processing time, etc: https://www.mygcvisa.com/calculator

Next Steps: If priority date is current and

1. If applicant is inside US, they will have to file I-485: https://blog.mygcvisa.com/2013/04/how-to-file-i-485-application.html

2. If applicant is outside US, it will be sent to NVC: https://www.mygcvisa.com/nvc/overview-after-nvc-petition-approved.aspx

Recommended Reading:

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